The Yuzu Switch emulator telemetry feature was used by Nintendo to prove how the emulator was used to play pirated games, often before their official release.
As reported by Hikiko on X/Twitter, the Yuzu developers decided to settle to avoid discovery, as they would be hit with multiple infringements, including dumping games and sharing them between themselves, a claim that was not verified due to the out-of-court settlement. In addition, the emulator's telemetry feature, which is a standard feature in most modern software, was used by Nintendo to prove how the emulator was used to play pirated games, citing the massive number of players who played Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on the emulator.
The Yuzu devs settled to avoid discovery. They were going to get fucked with multiple infringements for making roms and distributing them between the Yuzu devs, often pre-release of the game. They allegedly had a rom stash on their discord too. Nintendo ninjas were inside the… pic.twitter.com/Sg4fLcKoxP
— Hikiko ⏸️ (@HikikomoriMedia) March 5, 2024
— Hikiko ⏸️ (@HikikomoriMedia) March 5, 2024
The fact that the Yuzu Nintendo Switch emulator developers logged a lot of information on their users, however, is a much bigger issue in light of the recent developments. All members of the LLC will be safe as long as they comply with the terms of the settlement, but the fact that they turned over all devices, hard drives, and domains owned by it means that Nintendo is now in possession of this information, including details on the emulator's developers, payment information of Patreon supporters and so on. What the Japanese company will do with this data remains to be seen, but it definitely sounds like the end of development for the Yuzu emulator is only the beginning.
The most concerning part is how much information Yuzu had on their users. Sure, they settled, but they also turned over all devices, hdds, domains owned by the LLC. No doubt Nintendo will be digging into the logs Yuzu kept. Yuzu sold out its users and fellow devs for safety.
— Hikiko ⏸️ (@HikikomoriMedia) March 5, 2024
This situation is being spun into big corpo versus the "little guy" without realizing why Yuzu opened up an LLC to begin with. The individual members will be fine as long as they comply with the terms of the settlement. Everyone outside of the LLC is a target.
— Hikiko ⏸️ (@HikikomoriMedia) March 5, 2024
As Yuzu is no longer in the works, the only working emulator that is being actively developed is Ryujinx. New projects were also launched to continue the development of the popular emulator, although one was already canceled. No matter what, we can be sure Nintendo will be keeping a keen eye on them, as the Japanese company proved once again that it does not tolerate piracy.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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